X-Men - The Beautiful People
by Cap808
Summary: Scott Summers has always been the backbone of the X-Men. Now see how his world would have been with one slight variation in Scott's life. The X-Men go from being feared and despised, to being the rock stars of their universe. Part 1 of 4. Please read and review.


**The X-Men – The Beautiful People**

**T-minus 3 days till take off…**

Reed Richards was a nervous wreck. He so desperately wanted to make a name for himself by furthering the United States space program and being a pioneer in interspace travel. He had already helped to design and construct a ship that he believed could help accomplish this. While he could serve as an engineer and navigator on the flight, he wasn't a pilot.

That was where his best friend, Ben Grimm came in. Reed had approached Ben with the idea, and while Ben remembered promising Reed that he would pilot the craft if Reed ever built one, Ben insisted that he couldn't do it by himself. That was where Major Christopher Summers came in.

He was one of Grimm's superiors, and quite the adventurer in his own right. Reed was willing to do whatever it took to get Ben on this adventure with him, and that was why they both sat in Major Summers' office, as the Major digested what he had just been told.

Major Summers sat behind his desk, staring at the two young men incredulously.

"So let me get this straight, Ben," Summers said. "You want me to join you in some sort of haphazard voyage into space with an experimental spacecraft that your egghead friend here, built? No offense, Richards."

Ben chuckles slightly, looks at Reed and realizes that the egghead comment was spot on. Reed just smiled uncomfortably.

"Yes, Major Summers," Ben said. "I know it sounds crazy, hell, it is crazy, but Reed is my best friend, and I trust him."

Major Summers stood up and began to pace the room.

"We'll be court martialed for this," Summers said out loud, not really looking for a response.

"What about cosmic rays?" he asked.

"I've taken that into account, Major," Reed says. "The ship's shielding will hold up."

Major Summers eyed Reed suspiciously before turning to Ben.

"Grimm, you're one of, if not the best pilot I've ever trained. You don't think this is at all rushing it? You're talking about two days…"

Ben nods, "This is totally insane, Major. I really wouldn't blame you if you said, 'No'."

Major Summers sighs. "Didn't say I wasn't going to do it. I love my country as much as the next guy. However, you're still going to owe me, Grimm."

Reed and Ben stood up, thrilled that they had gotten the man they wanted.

"You won't regret this, Major," Reed says with an almost elastic smile.

"I'm not so sure of that," Major Summers begins. "I'm supposed to be taking my wife and two sons on a trip to Alaska on our plane. If this works out, I'm sure they'll understand why we went a week later."

The three men shake hands and begin the planning stages of their adventure.

**T-minus 2 days until take off…**

A day later, Reed Richards finds himself breaking up with the girl of his dreams, Susan Storm. When Reed told her of his plans, she wanted to go with him. Major Summers however, was very adamant that the crew would only consist of him, Reed, and Ben.

As much as Reed had planned on letting Susan come with him, Major Summers was right. The repercussions were too high. Even if the mission was a success, they were going to face severe penalties. Oh well, all in the name of science. He had no idea he would never see Susan again.

**Two hours after take off…**

Somewhere on the shores of the United Kingdom, Ben Grimm regains consciousness and tries to take in the carnage of the crash. He realizes that he must be in shock, and it helped him deal with the site of Reed Richards' and Major Christopher Summers's bodies. Did shock also explain the broken bodies of what appeared to be men made of stone?

One of them crawled in his direction. Its elongated body stretched towards Ben, one of its massive, stone hands grabbed Ben's leg. Its rough, rocky fingers gouging a wound Ben sustained in the crash.

Ben's body goes into convulsions as his mind is flooded with the creature's thought patterns. His name is Korg, and he is part of an alien race called the Kronan. He and his crew were part of an advanced invasion party from their planet.

They were headed for Norway, when their ship collided unexpectedly with the human ship. The collision, and subsequent crash brought them down hundreds of miles from their intended landing zone.

Ben then 'hears' the distress call that Korg sends out to his planet.

"Under attack by an Earth ship! Humans more dangerous than anticipated! Cease invasion plans…"

The transmission ended.

Ben came out of his trance in time to see the alien, Korg, die.

Ben passes out from the pain, but not before Korg's last word echoes in his head.

"Redemption…"

Meanwhile, a young doctor from the United States, Donald Blake, enjoys an uneventful vacation in Norway before returning to his practice in New York a week later.

**10 years later…**

**Viet Nam**

Scott Summers thrived on this. Here he was, still under legal drinking age, and yet he found himself in the jungles of Viet Nam. He loved his job as a man-hunter, but things were different this time around. Instead of bringing a man to justice, Stark industries had hired him to bring back their benefactor. Hopefully in one piece.

Tony Stark had a heart condition, but it didn't stop him from coming to Viet Nam with a team of Army Rangers, in an effort to create weapons to win such a difficult war. Unfortunately, the Viet Cong got a hold of him, and now he spent his days in a bamboo cage submerged in rice patty waters.

Scott had hiked for two days to get to the P.O.W camp, but now that he was here, his mind went into that 'zone', where he planned out a strategy. Before his mother died, she told Scott that he was every bit as intelligent as his father. A father who helped hijack a secret spaceship that malfunctioned and crashed.

His mother had been pregnant when his father, Major Christopher Summers died, and the stress from that caused her to lose her child. A year later she died. Scott and his brother, Alex, were teenagers that no one would adopt. They were put into separate orphanages and hadn't seen each other since.

As if all of that wasn't enough for a teenager, Scott suffered from constant headaches. Little did he know it was the beginning of his mutation. Scott had the ability to shoot blasts of energy from his eyes. It was great. If he could see it, he could hit it. His aim was perfect. Why wouldn't it be? The beams came straight out of his eyes!

With this discovery, Scott ran away from the orphanage. He committed his first minor crime at 15 years of age. Nothing serious, just enough money or goods to survive. He grew up in the streets, impressed the right people, and was an official bounty hunter at age 18.

His reputation was impressive. Enough to get a billion dollar company like Stark Industries to call him. It was time to earn a very healthy paycheck.

Scott sat in silence and took note of all of the soldiers in the compound. This was going to be easy. Three snipers in towers and the rest of them in one hut. Gambling probably.

Scott came up with a plan almost immediately. He would use the same strategy that he used to free the Maximoff siblings from that 'concentration camp', in Prague. That place was a hellhole, but their father paid him a lot of money. It was a little odd that once they found out who hired Scott, they were no longer in any hurry to return home with him.

Scott snapped back to the present. He took one last look around the compound and then fired away. The hut exploded with one big force beam, and everyone in it was either knocked out by the concussive force or…expired.

Scott was then able to take out the snipers one by one. It was too easy. Being in those perches, the snipers only had one way down, and Scott was too quick on the draw with his optic blasts. The siege was over within a couple of minutes.

Scott carefully walked down to the prisoner cages, and almost all of the men were screaming or crying, except one – the man he came to rescue, Tony Stark.

"You okay, Mr. Stark?"

Tony looked up at the young man. He was a good looking kid, roguishly charming if Tony said so himself. He was quite calm, and had just unleashed hell on the Viet Cong all by himself.

"I'm okay, kid," Tony said. "You here for me?"

"Yes, sir," Scott replied. "I have a Mr. James Rhodes waiting for us a few miles away to evacuate us, as well as any other survivors."

As Scott helped Tony out of the cage, Tony surveyed the destruction.

"Great job, kid," Tony said. "If you didn't get to me in the next couple of days, I would have had to try some crazy plans of my own."

"Really, sir?" Scott asked, genuinely curious. "Such as?"

Tony chuckled. Being a captive can make the mind think some crazy things, and creating a suit of armor out of jeep parts would have been way too outlandish, even for him.

"Doesn't matter, kid," Tony smirked. "Let's go home."

Scott Summers had just led world famous philanthropist, Tony Stark, and 7 other American survivors out of Viet Nam. Yet, throughout the helicopter ride home, all he could think of was Wanda.

**New York University, New York**

Midtown High School student, Peter Parker, slowly daydreams his way through a public science exhibit at New York University. It was an outing he had been looking forward to for a while. He was at home here. Nerds from hundreds of other high schools and universities were in attendance as well.

Peter passes an exhibit of spiders. Nothing too interesting, arachnid attributes and possible mutations. Peter stood inches away from one of the displays, staring at the spiders, trying to get a good look at their mandibles.

From behind him, a big, meaty hand pushes him against the glass display, and a chorus of laughter follows.

"Ha!" the large figure says, "Puny Parker wants to kiss a spider!"

Peter turns around, adjusts his glasses and meekly mumbles, "I'm not afraid of you, Flash."

Flash Thompson growls, "What did you say, Parker?"

An even bigger hand grabs Flash by the shoulder.

"I believe his response was that he was in no way intimidated by you," the voice said. "Obviously, your belligerence is a reoccurring theme, and it appears to be wearing thin on his patience."

Peter turns to see the person behind the voice. It was a young man, probably the same age as Peter, but he was as big, or bigger, than Flash. Yet, he also looked like Peter, and wore glasses and a sweater-vest.

"I don't know who you are," Flash threatens, "But this was none of your business."

Flash nervously looked at the handsome, muscular teenager. He definitely had a presence about him, but he wore glasses, so he had to be a nerd.

"My name is Hank McCoy," Hank said. "And now that we've been properly introduced, we can either depart as friends, or resort to barbarism, and eventually fisticuffs."

Flash's friends have gathered around them, and the angry mob mentality became tangible.

Hank puts himself between Flash and Peter.

"We don't have to do this," Hank says to Flash.

"Ha," Flash snorted. "Sounds like you're chicken."

Flash and his friends rush forward, and with uncanny agility and speed, Hank begins to gently dance around the bullies and eventually had them all tied up with their own jackets. Six, burly teenagers were now sitting on the floor wondering how someone so big could be so fast.

Hank then kneels in front of Flash.

"Rest assured, I am a pacifist by nature," Hank says. "But I believe in standing up for what's right. In the future, I would appreciate you gentlemen leaving my friend alone."

Hank then walked over to Peter.

"I believe that these Neanderthals will be leaving you alone in the future, my friend."

Peter doesn't know what to say. This person was just like him, but so…big. Especially his hands and feet.

Hank then reached over Peter's shoulder and squashed a spider that was about to land on Peter.

"Ew," Hank cringed. "I hate bugs. Have a great day, chum."

Hank then turned around, put his NYU varsity football jacket back on, and left.

**Worthington Industries, New York**

Warren Worthington III strolls through the hallways of his incubator building. This was where ideas were made into reality.

Popular opinion was that Warren was too young to be in charge, and many of the scientists under the employ of Worthington Industries were very vocal about their discontent with the young man. So far today, Warren had laid off seven of them. He was not done yet.

Hank Pym pounded his desk. It had been months since he had made any progress on his 'Pym Particles', and word was that the bratty, upstart owner of the company was coming around and cutting all of the dead weight in the company. So Pym had another plan.

He would show off his beings of artificial intelligence. Ultron and the Vision. Sure, they were still in the experimental stage, but they would be more than enough to impress some pretty boy, rich kid.

Pym turned the Vision on, and got ready for his interrogation by the young Worthington.

"Hello, Dr. Pym," the monotone voice forced out. "The Vision is online."

That voice gave Pym the creeps. He would have to adjust it later.

"Hello, Vision," Pym said. "Our trashy benefactor will be here in a few moments, and we need to impress him."

"Yes, Dr. Pym," the Vision concurred. "I will do my best to impress our benefactor."

"Good man, Vision," Pym chuckled.

Moments later, Worthington walked in.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Pym."

"Good morning, Mr. Worthington," Pym mumbled.

"Please, call me Warren."

Hank Pym nodded as Warren walked over to the Vision. The synthezoid's eyes followed Warren's every move.

"Wow," Warren said. "Who is this guy?"

Pym rushed over to their side and said, "This is the Vision. He's a synthezoid with an artificial intelligence to go along with some very innovative abilities."

"Artificial intelligence?" Warren asked. "Does that mean they have free will?"

Pym was both nervous and suspicious at the same time.

"Eventually," Pym responded. "He's been learning on the fly. I've been introducing him to as many different thought processes as possible."

The Vision looked from Pym to Worthington.

"Really?" Warren asked. "So, his thoughts are based on yours?"

Pym shrugged, "I guess you could say that."

Warren smiled, "Well, if that's the case, I don't need both of you, one of you will have to go…"

With that, Warren slapped Hank on the shoulder, "Sorry, Doctor Pym. Just a little bit of payroll humor…"

Before Warren can finish his sentence, the Vision angrily grabs him by the throat, calmly walks him over to the window, and casually throws him out.

"I have taken out the trash, Dr. Pym," the Vision says matter-of-factly.

"Vision!" Pym screams. "What have you done?"

"I don't understand…" the Vision begins.

"You've killed him!" Pym shrieks. "We are in so much trouble!"

"I do not appreciate your tone, Doctor Pym," the Vision says cryptically.

Hank Pym is incredulous. He looks at the Vision, who then begins to walk towards him. Pym pulls out a remote control and presses the failsafe button. The Vision abruptly stops in his tracks.

Pym then rushes to the window fully expecting to see Warren splattered on the road below him. However, he is shocked to see a shirtless Warren flying up towards the window. The young billionaire was supported by a large, majestic, set of white wings.

"You're fired, Dr. Pym," Warren says sternly. "Leave immediately. All of your possessions and research will be disposed of by security."

**Pearl Harbor, Hawaii – The Arizona Memorial**

Shiro Yoshida's blood is boiling. Literally, boiling. He was a proud young man, and he still held a grudge against the United States for what had transpired in the war decades ago. He believed the bomb was what made him what he is. A freak…maybe even a monster.

The radiation had affected his mother, and Shiro was born with the ability to manipulate the fires of the sun. To be different brought shame to the family, so Shiro would often sneak away from his family and their resources, and he would fly. Above the mountains, and across the oceans. It was magnificent.

He would take extended trips, testing his powers on tiny, uninhabited islands. No one to judge him, and no one for him to hate. Those experiences gave him the peace he was looking for.

Yet, there was that time he ran into the fish-man with the pointy ears, on one of those excursions. The man had been swimming in the ocean, before rocketing skyward and attacking Shiro for no reason. Then, with an American accent, the man went off on an arrogant, anti-human tirade.

The man was a maniac, otherwise he would have realized that Shiro was not an ordinary human. Shiro could see a little bit of himself in the man's eyes. It scared him. Then when the man started to strangle Shiro, he had no choice.

Shiro was sure he would have died had he not unleashed the fires within him. Burned beyond recovery, the fish-man fell into the Pacific Ocean, somewhere between Japan and Hawaii. That day brought him full circle. It made him realize that he needed…something. He waited a calling to keep him focused and to help him suppress his rage.

Then someone named Scott Summers called him with a proposition. It sounded scary, it sounded crazy, and most of all it sounded exciting. From Hawaii, Shiro would fly to Dallas, and then on to New York to meet Scott and the rest of his people.

**New York City, Greenwich Village**

Ororo Munroe sat at the bedside of a man she didn't know. She visited him here in the hospital quite often. She felt obligated to be here. Originally, she didn't know who he was, or what had happened to him. Since then, the man's neurosurgeon, a Dr. Stephen Strange, hypothesized that this man had suffered some form of mental trauma.

Ororo thought back to that day in Cairo. She was a young pickpocket, and she had just tried to lift this man's wallet. He stopped her, and she could have sworn he spoke to her with his mind! Ororo also remembers feeling another presence in her mind, as well as in the mind of this man.

It was a darker, evil presence. It wanted to kill the first man, and enslave Ororo. The shock of those two in her mind, triggered something in Ororo, and the last thing she remembers is lightning striking her and this poor man she had tried to rob.

The man hadn't regained consciousness since. Ororo had tracked him down after she learned how to control her powers over the weather. She told everyone she was a family friend, and she held vigil over him whenever she could, just hoping that one day he would wake up.

Having spending so much time with this man, she got to know Dr. Strange quite well. One night she could tell that he was agitated as he left the hospital. She decided to follow him from high above. Flying over him, she worried about his speeding on snow-slicked roads.

Sure enough, he lost control of his car due to the bad conditions. Unbeknownst to the doctor, Ororo used her ability to have the winds keep his car upright, and the man avoided a major car accident. It would always be her little secret. She needed him to care for the man in the coma, Charles Xavier.

**New Mexico, Area 51**

Wanda Maximoff did her best to keep the crowd at bay without hurting anyone. Her brother, Pietro often referred to her powers as a 'hex', whereas she referred to it as her 'charms'. It was good luck for some, and bad luck for others. Whatever you called it, Wanda did admit that it could be unpredictable.

Her boyfriend, Scott Summers, had asked them to attend this protest of Gamma bomb testing. They expected a fugitive to be in attendance, and he was a big payout. The man in question was Emil Blonsky, some sort of psycho scientist who wanted to sabotage any, and all gamma testing and experimenting.

Wanda and Pietro had gotten there in time to find Blonsky inciting a crowd of protestors into a riot. While Pietro removed Blonsky to a holding house, Wanda tried to calm the crowd down. This was going to be a challenge, because her powers always seemed to be much more focused when she could concentrate on one person or event. A crowd this big always ran the risk of a scattered charm.

Luckily for her, this particular charm had the crowd dancing, as if they were all at an outdoor festival of some sort. Wanda could only guess that this whole environment triggered a memory of Woodstock in her, and she in turn projected that onto the crowd.

Behind her, she heard a muffled boom, which came out more as a, 'thump'. Then there was a pale, green glow from the horizon. Racing past that danger, her brother, Pietro ran up to her with a scrawny scientist in his arms.

"Who is this little man, Pietro?" she asked.

The man cleared his throat, "My name is Dr. Bruce Banner. I was rushing out to the test site to calm the protestors. Then, uh…"

Pietro's patience got the best of him. "I had stopped in the observatory to see how long we had until the countdown. It seems that Dr. Banner here had no regard for himself, because he decided to leave the room just as the countdown started."

"Uh," Dr. Banner stammered. "Needless to say, I appreciate your help…"

"Save it, dork," Pietro cut him off.

Then he grabbed Wanda, who waved at Banner, before being whisked away by her brother. She was excited to be reunited with Scott. He had called them earlier and said that he had found some new candidates and was ready to expand their operations.

Stuck there with the rest of the crowd, Dr. Banner couldn't shake the sudden urge to dance.

**END PART 1 ****Original text**Contribute a better translation


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